Telecommunications fraud is a national security threat that poses a significant risk of harming Taiwanese lives and property, the Control Yuan said yesterday as it called on the government to step up a campaign against scammers.
Taiwanese law enforcement has reported 20,000 domestic cases of telecom fraud this year, marking a historic high despite the implementation of the anti-fraud action plan versions 1.0 and 1.5, it said in a news release.
The soaring rate of fraud is worrisome and suggests underlying weaknesses in the government’s approach to regulating telephone number registrations, digital platforms and cryptocurrencies, it said.
Photo: Taipei Times
The Cabinet should monitor and improve anti-fraud programs, especially with regard to using preventive measures and boosting effectiveness, the Control Yuan said.
Although the government’s public information campaign involving 16 agencies has supposedly been heard, read or seen 330 million times, repeated exposure is not an indication of success, it said.
Public-private partnerships and an evidence-based approach should guide the government’s policy going forward, it said, adding that cooperation with businesses, civic and religious groups, and community organizations is crucial to efforts to combat fraud.
The government’s claimed success in preventing fraudsters from accessing telecom services should be treated with skepticism, as one alleged scammer in a recent case obtained the use of 300,000 phone numbers, it said.
The Control Yuan urged regulators to strengthen the government’s collaboration with telecom service providers to detect or prevent fraud at the source.
Telecom data should be more closely monitored, it said.
It also recommended the government use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to detect fraudulent advertisements, adding that efforts to remove ads have not achieved notable results.
Regulators should consider creating a social media fraud safety assessment system to provide objective metrics for gauging the success or failure of the measures, it said.
Laws and regulations concerning third-party transferable virtual accounts and cryptocurrency wallets should be shored up to prevent their use by scammers, the Control Yuan said.
The latest amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法) authorizing law enforcement to make use of cell-site simulators and GPS trackers to locate suspects is a positive development, it said.
However, the government should anticipate the application of AI and deepfake technology for crime by taking appropriate measures, it said, adding that partnerships with foreign governments might be required to tackle the issue.
The Control Yuan said that it had submitted its investigative report on countering telecom fraud to the Executive Yuan for its consideration.
A vessel owned by Taiwan’s cargo container shipping company Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp caught fire after an explosion occurred in a container on board while the ship was at the busy Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan in eastern China on Friday. Yang Ming Marine confirmed the incident and said a preliminary investigation found that the explosion occurred in a container on its vessel, the YM Mobility, which reportedly arrived in Ningbo early on Friday morning after its last call in Shanghai. “Immediate fire control measures were taken, and the situation is now under control,” Yang Ming Marine said in a statement. “All crew
The number of foreign students attending Taiwanese universities last year dropped 9.46 percent from 2019, mainly due to a marked decline in the number of Chinese students, the National Audit Office said in a report. Last year, there were 116,038 foreign students — 67,299 degree students and 48,739 non-degree students — a decrease of 12,119, or 9.46 percent, from 128,157 in 2019, the report said. China in 2020 stopped allowing Chinese students to study in Taiwan, saying that COVID-19 pandemic controls and “the cross-strait situation” were the reasons for the change. Chinese who had already come to Taiwan were allowed finish their
‘UNITING TAIWAN’: While the boxer’s home town is offering free train and sports center access, stores around the nation are offering discounts to celebrate her victory New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) yesterday declared Aug. 12 “Lin Yu-ting Day” after the Taiwanese boxer won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg category at the Paris Olympics. Lin’s hometown is in the city’s Yingge District (鶯歌). The final between Lin and Poland’s Julia Szeremeta was broadcast live at the city hall early yesterday morning, where Hou, Lin’s mother and more than 200 people rooted for her. Thunderous roars and applause erupted at the city hall when the referee lifted Lin’s hand to show she had won. To celebrate Lin’s hard-won victory, Aug. 12 would be designated Lin
HUGE UPGRADE: Once Terminal 3 is completed, the airport’s passenger service capacity would expand to 82 million travelers per year from 37 million, an official said The north concourse of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 is scheduled to begin operations in the middle of next year, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said yesterday. The Terminal 3 project was launched as the number of air travelers accessing the nation’s largest international airport each year has already exceeded the combined capacity of terminals 1 and 2. The two existing terminals were designed to be accessed by 37 million air travelers per year. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, about 48.36 million accessed the airport in 2019. The airport operator yesterday organized a field trip for reporters to see Terminal 3 construction